Joe Sample
One of the many jazzmen who started out playing hard bop but went electric during the fusion era, Joe Sample was, in the late '50s, a founding member of the Jazz Crusaders along with trombonist Wayne Henderson, tenor saxman Wilton Felder, and drummer Stix Hooper. The Crusaders' debt to Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers wasn't hard to miss -- except that the L.A.-based unit had no trumpeter, and became known for its unique tenor/trombone front line. Sample, a hard-swinging player who could handle chordal and modal/scalar improvisation equally well, stuck to the acoustic piano during the Crusaders' early years -- but would place greater emphasis on electric keyboards when the band turned to jazz-funk in the early '70s and dropped "Jazz" from its name. Though he'd recorded as a trio pianist on 1969's obscure Fancy Dance, 1978's Rainbow Seeker was often described as his first album as a leader. In contrast to the gritty music the Crusaders became known for, Sample's own albums on MCA and, later, Warner Bros. and PRA generally favored a very lyrical and introspective jazz-pop approach. Sample died of mesothelioma in September 2014 in Houston, Texas at the age of 75. In 2015, Sample's holiday-themed collaboration with vocalist India.Arie, Christmas with Friends, was posthumously released.
© Alex Henderson /TiVo
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The Song Lives On
Jazz - Released by Bad Dog - PRA Records on 20 Apr 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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No Regrets
Jazz - Released by Bad Dog - PRA Records on 10 Oct 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Old Places Old Faces
Jazz - Released by Warner Records on 5 Mar 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Voices In The Rain
Jazz Fusion & Jazz Rock - Released by MCA Records on 1 Jan 1980
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Best Of Joe Sample
Jazz - Released by Warner Records on 17 Jul 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Did You Feel That?
Jazz - Released by Warner Records on 30 Aug 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Swing Street Cafe (Album Version)
Jazz - Released by Verve Reissues on 1 Jan 1981
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Christmas With Friends
Christmas Music - Released by Motown on 16 Oct 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Lives In A Dream (Live Seattle '73)
The Crusaders, Larry Carlton, Joe Sample
Jazz - Released by Blue Shrimp Recordings on 16 Aug 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo